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I think my bees need ventilation too, would it be OK to take off the outer cover and put mesh over the inner cover? The bees are clustering underneath the landing board should I take the landing board off to get the bees back in the hive or will they go by the selves? the cluster is about the size of a small swarm.

I have a Miller feeder for each hive. I built them from plans on this site and they have the Bee access in the center. I'm leaving them on (empty) with the inner cover removed and the outer cover propped up. With my screened bottom boards and with a 1" hole in each super ... I don't know what else my bees can ask. I'm in Ct. but we get hot and humid days here too. I'm new at this. Any comments.

the bees are saying please provide the hive with shade from the sun. yesterday it was 97 degrees here and very humid with many bees hanging outside the hive buzzing and trying to cool the hive. I am using a screenrd bottom board. I placed some pieces of board between the hive and the sun and after 2 hours things went back to normal
near Lansing Michigan

I put extra holes in the inner cover and cover all the holes with mesh. Then I take a medium or shallow box (or make my own because I don't need the rabbet for the frames) and put a couple of 1" holes on each side of the box and put mesh over them. Then I put a peice of plywood on top for a lid. I prefer to just nail it so I can remove it if I want to use the box for something else. Also I usually build my own inner covers with just a 1/4" x 3/4" strip on the bottom of a pice of plywood to make the beespace below. Since I have a vent box on top I don't care about the beespace above, then I put a pivot door on the front so I can have a top entrance. Similar to the ones on the double screen plan in the plans section. The stick is quicker, but this is a long term solution. In the winter I'd plug all but two of the holes. you still need ventilation in the winter. Humidiy makes water when it condenses on the cold inner cover.